DWTS Alum ‘Didn’t Tell Anybody’ About Severe Injury on Show

Season 19 “Dancing With the Stars” alum Bethany Mota suffered an injury on week one and didn’t tell anyone just how bad it was.

On the June 17 episode of the “Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans” podcast, Mota revealed that she had fractured her ankle and was told to stay off of her foot. However, she kept on dancing and didn’t let production know that she had more than a twisted ankle.

“I fractured my right ankle, so I had a horrendous wrap or a brace, whatever, on my ankle for the first three weeks. Then I think the doctor was like, you need to keep this on the whole time. You should not be taking this off,” Mota told podcast host Cheryl Burke. “I ended up just taking it off. I was like, it looks awful. It’s ruining my costumes,” she continued.

“I didn’t tell anybody. I would just go home after every rehearsal and just ice that foot,” she added.

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Bethany Mota Underwent an MRI on Her Ankle

Although Mota didn’t share the extent of her ankle injury, many fans knew that she did get hurt while dancing. In fact, her MRI was filmed for the show and was part of a package that aired one week. On Burke’s podcast, however, Mota said that she focused on her choreography.

In September 2014, Mota’s pro partner Derek Hough wrote a blog post in which he talked about the injury — though not the severity.

“Bethany’s ankle is not doing great,” he wrote candidly for TV Guide (via Yahoo!).

“We’re wrapping it and icing it. The problem is you’ve got to stay off of it, but we don’t have time for that. It’s unfortunate. We’re doing everything we can to try not to make it worse. It was getting a little worse Thursday when she was on it. I’m adjusting the choreography to favor it a little bit and I’m trying to be conscious about it, like I’d go, ‘Go to the right, oh, actually, go to your left.’ Hopefully she’ll be feeling better by Monday,” he added.

Meanwhile, on Burke’s podcast, Mota admitted that she wasn’t truly prepared for how strenuous DWTS was.

“I definitely did not know what I was getting myself into. With the long hours, I think physically, I definitely didn’t know. I had so many band-aids on my toes,” she said.

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Bethany Mota & Derek Hough Made it to the Semifinals

Things didn’t get better for Mota, who suffered through the pain in her ankle for several weeks.

“I had the fractured ankle the whole season,” she said on “Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans.”

Despite Mota’s ankle injury, she and Hough made it to the semifinals. The two ended up finishing the competition in fourth place. Following her elimination, the then-19-year-old shared her feelings about her time on the show.

“I’ve discovered things about myself that, things I never thought I could do. I was just hoping to make it past week two so to be in the finals was the best thing ever,” she said.

Alfonso Ribeiro and Witney Carson ended up taking home the Mirrorball Trophy the following week.

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